Metta World Peace has a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee, according to The Orange County Register. The Lakers’ small forward is returning to Los Angeles for further examination, according to the newspaper.

World Peace played just 19 minutes and sat out the entire second-half of the Lakers’ Monday night loss to the Golden State Warriors as a result of the injury, which was originally called a strain.

In 70 games this season, Artest is averaging 12.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. Those totals are his highest since the 2008-09 season when he played for the Houston Rockets and averaged 17.1 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game.

The Lakers just got power forward Pau Gasol back last week from a foot injury that caused the big man to miss six weeks.

The Lakers are holding off the Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Losers of three straight, Los Angeles takes on the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday night.